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abigailbat's review against another edition
3.0
This nonfiction book presents the life and times of "Girl Reporter" Nellie Bly as she performed some of her most daring stunts in the name of journalism. Bly pretended to be insane to gain entrance to an insane asylum in order to report on the horrible conditions there. She also challenged herself to make her way around the world in less than Jules Verne's 80 days, a feat that was unheard of for a single woman at that time.
This was an interesting and engaging book, but sidebars are oddly placed and, in most cases, distract from the main narrative.
This was an interesting and engaging book, but sidebars are oddly placed and, in most cases, distract from the main narrative.
jm3684's review against another edition
4.0
I felt like the mad woman story ended kinda quickly, but overall it was a nice book.
natw3's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
Good read. Very informative. Nelly Bly was such a brave and strong willed person. From her difficult childhood, being poor after leaving their abusive father, trouble getting hired and respected and living in poverty, to becoming one of the most famous women in the world at that time and great journalist then going back to being poor again. I liked that it went throughout her whole life instead of just the insane asylum. It’s crazy that she traveled the whole world in 72 days and still didn’t get a raise. She definitely started paving the way for women who even though it took centuries for anything to change.
heykellyjensen's review against another edition
Nellie Bly is the best.
This entire book is a fascinating, well-written, engaging account of Bly's career, from her beginnings through to the end. I loved that it followed so many pieces of history that are familiar and offered insights and interesting aspects we may not otherwise know about Bly nor the time period. There was one part about how Willa Cather wrote a scathing letter against Bly's journalism that made me so happy to see and think about because it so mirrors today's social action and movement and criticism. If anything, this time period surprisingly mirrors ours, but without the high tech aspects.
Also, Nellie had a pet monkey named McGinty, and he broke all of her dishes after their voyage around the globe.
From now on, all we need to ask is WHAT WOULD NELLIE BLY DO?
Full review here: http://stackedbooks.org/2016/10/cybils-mgya-nonfiction-reviews-the-borden-murders-by-sarah-miller-ten-days-a-madwoman-by-deborah-noyes.html
This entire book is a fascinating, well-written, engaging account of Bly's career, from her beginnings through to the end. I loved that it followed so many pieces of history that are familiar and offered insights and interesting aspects we may not otherwise know about Bly nor the time period. There was one part about how Willa Cather wrote a scathing letter against Bly's journalism that made me so happy to see and think about because it so mirrors today's social action and movement and criticism. If anything, this time period surprisingly mirrors ours, but without the high tech aspects.
Also, Nellie had a pet monkey named McGinty, and he broke all of her dishes after their voyage around the globe.
From now on, all we need to ask is WHAT WOULD NELLIE BLY DO?
Full review here: http://stackedbooks.org/2016/10/cybils-mgya-nonfiction-reviews-the-borden-murders-by-sarah-miller-ten-days-a-madwoman-by-deborah-noyes.html
faintingviolet's review against another edition
3.0
Its probably been over twenty years since I have read any YA non-fiction, but as soon as I opened the book sense memories of Reading and History classes in my middle school years came flooding back. Its somehow nice to know that the form and structure I had experienced as a youth still existed in a book published within the past four years. Noyes does as promised and tracks Nellie Bly’s life and times, using the standard interstitial asides to build out the larger world surround Bly at the turn of the last century. The book is also littered with primary source images and quotes, rooting the reader in the narrative.
Full review: https://faintingviolet.wordpress.com/2020/02/29/ten-days-a-madwoman-cbr12-19/
Full review: https://faintingviolet.wordpress.com/2020/02/29/ten-days-a-madwoman-cbr12-19/
wren_in_black's review against another edition
3.0
This was a good book. I can see it being inspiring to students who want to become journalists. The format of the book was somewhat distracting, as it was not linear but employed a great deal of "flashbacks" or additional information in the middle of chapters. If those extra bits were in between chapters I think I would have felt the writing flowed better. I also wish this book focused either more on her work with the asylum or with her World War I reporting. I felt like it tried to sell a focus on the former, but turned out to be a typical short biography. I'm interested now in reading some of Nellie's published works, so there's that. I also like how the author questions what Nellie might have truly thought and felt during her more famous projects, as we will likely never know for certain.
megpeg08's review against another edition
1.0
I had to read this book for school during our literary non-fiction unit and I was very excited to read it. It sounded very interesting, and it was interesting while she was in the asylum... little didn I know, less than half the book actually talked about her times in the asylum. The rest of the book was very boring and I definitely regret choosing this book for the unit.
corncobwebs's review against another edition
Nelly Bly was a hero, but she was also a person. All heroes are just this in the end, and it's what makes them extraordinary - in spite of everything, their fundamental and flawed humanity, they achieved great things.
Good basic overview of the life of Nellie Bly. I was expecting a book that focused solely on her 10 day stay at the asylum, but it actually covers the entirety of her life and career. There's a lengthy section about her journey to circumnavigate the globe, which I was already familiar with from reading [b:Around the World|10853145|Around the World|Matt Phelan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320463265s/10853145.jpg|15767928].
Since her time in the asylum forms a large chunk of the story, I wish Noyes had addressed some of the stereotypes that continue to be attached to mental illness. Many of the scenarios described are clearly abusive and don't need further explanation (like cruel nurses making all patients use the same dirty bathwater and towel), but something like the use of the word "mad house" is more subtle and could use some explanation so readers understand why it's derogatory.
There were lots of period photographs and illustrations, which I enjoyed. It was also interesting to learn about how Bly was the 19th-century equivalent of an A-list celebrity. I only had a vague sense of who she was before reading this book, but now I have a more well-rounded understanding of her life and contributions. She definitely straddled two different worlds; on the one hand, she had to do some fluff journalism that was deemed appropriate for women, and on the other hand, she tackled some tricky social justice issues and did her best to effect change. I'm intrigued that she interviewed Emma Goldman and am going to try to locate this interview!
Still would have liked more detail about her asylum stay, but I can read [b:Ten Days in a Mad-House|1642216|Ten Days in a Mad-House|Nellie Bly|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1394107458s/1642216.jpg|1636567] to delve deeper into that topic.
Good basic overview of the life of Nellie Bly. I was expecting a book that focused solely on her 10 day stay at the asylum, but it actually covers the entirety of her life and career. There's a lengthy section about her journey to circumnavigate the globe, which I was already familiar with from reading [b:Around the World|10853145|Around the World|Matt Phelan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320463265s/10853145.jpg|15767928].
Since her time in the asylum forms a large chunk of the story, I wish Noyes had addressed some of the stereotypes that continue to be attached to mental illness. Many of the scenarios described are clearly abusive and don't need further explanation (like cruel nurses making all patients use the same dirty bathwater and towel), but something like the use of the word "mad house" is more subtle and could use some explanation so readers understand why it's derogatory.
There were lots of period photographs and illustrations, which I enjoyed. It was also interesting to learn about how Bly was the 19th-century equivalent of an A-list celebrity. I only had a vague sense of who she was before reading this book, but now I have a more well-rounded understanding of her life and contributions. She definitely straddled two different worlds; on the one hand, she had to do some fluff journalism that was deemed appropriate for women, and on the other hand, she tackled some tricky social justice issues and did her best to effect change. I'm intrigued that she interviewed Emma Goldman and am going to try to locate this interview!
Still would have liked more detail about her asylum stay, but I can read [b:Ten Days in a Mad-House|1642216|Ten Days in a Mad-House|Nellie Bly|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1394107458s/1642216.jpg|1636567] to delve deeper into that topic.
libscote's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this one. It gave an overview of many of the investigative stories that Bly participated in. I knew more about her trip around the world, so it was interesting to learn more about her time in an insane asylum. I thought the book had a good layout. There was one time where her mother was mentioned by first name only late in the story where I had to pause a moment to remember who Noyes was referring to. Otherwise, an excellent tale.
rlarsen82's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderful look at Nellie Bly, her childhood, and her career as a journalist exposing the struggles of women and the working class. It reads a little choppy with the auxiliary pages put directly in the middle of the chapters, but overall very insightful.
Good middle grade bio
Good middle grade bio